Secrets Of The Most Productive People

Is AI coming for our jobs?? ‘Fast Company’ senior staff editor Max Ufberg explains that it is . . . but that it’s not all bad news. And Yaz chatted with Loom CEO Joe Thomas—Loom is essentially TikTok for business, which sounds crazier than it is—about how video conferencing is here to stay. Also, a special thanks to Marfa Public Radio for helping us out with some recording on this episode! 

Today’s episode is an edited version of a LinkedIn Audio discussion I had recently with Senior Editor Julia Herbst and Staff Editor AJ Hess where we covered how to manage your manager and offered advice for managers to make sure they aren’t making missteps that could make employees disengage.

Kate Davis talks with Fast Company Editor, Christopher Zara, about his book "Uneducated: A Memoir of Flunking Out, Falling Apart, and Finding My Worth"

Kate Davis talks with Lars Schmidt about what a progressive, employee-centric human resources department would look like? What roles would it contain? And, If there is a future where HR is no longer the butt of office jokes?  Lars is the founder of the HR consultancy Amplify, speaker,  host of the Redefining Work podcast, author of the book Redefining HR, and a regular contributor to Fast Company

How is retirement changing for those with a few years versus a few decades left in the workforce? How can you plan for retirement at any age or career stage? How is retirement likely to change over the next generation? On this week's episode, Kate Davis talks with Emily Guy Birken to answer these questions. Birken is an author, money coach, and retirement expert who has written several books including "Choose Your Retirement" and "The 5 Years Before You Retire". She’s also written several personal finance articles for Fast Company.

Earlier this season, Kate Davis talked to New York Times columnist Jessica Grose about a piece Grose wrote called “the hour between babe and hag”. The article examines gendered ageism. Jessica writes that there seems to be about 10 years when a woman can hope to be taken seriously at work. Roughly from age 35-45. On either end of that, women are more likely to face ageism. On one side for being perceived as too young, and on the other side as being past their prime. In this episode, we hear a conversation between two women on other side of the this "hour".

Kate Davis and the work life team at Fast Company talk about what different generations of employees want out of work

Kate Davis talks with Albert Fox Cahn about what employers tracking and what tools are they using, If there any regulations around employee surveillance, and if your boss even has to tell you that you are being monitored. Albert Fox Cahn is the founder and executive director of  the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. He’s also a fellow at Yale Law School’, and at The Harvard Kennedy School.

The earliest Artificial Intelligence program was written way back in 1951 but outside of science fiction AI didn’t enter the mainstream conversation until decades later. At Fast Company we’ve been covering AI technologies for many years but nothing has compared to the excitement and fear that Open AI and their artificial intelligence chatbot   ChatGPT has caused since it launched  this past November.  These new AI  tools can feel at times like a novelty or at other times a harbinger of doom. But we’ve seen the panicked headlines that “the robots are taking our jobs” for years. How disruptive is AI? How can we use AI to our advantage? And is there anything we, as regular humans can do to not only keep our jobs but hold on to our humanity?

On today's episode, Kate explains how AI might change our jobs. A 2021 poll found that 48% of Americans fear that automation will reduce the number of jobs, but is there really something to be afraid of?

Kate Davis talks with Amber Cabral about diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Amber is an Inclusion Strategist, certified coach, speaker and author of Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture.

On the latest episode of ‘The New Way We Work,’ we discuss what happens when companies cut their DEI departments to save money. Wema Hoover, a global diversity, equity, and inclusion expert noted that many companies may be trimming DEI roles because they never took it seriously to begin with.

Kate Davis talks with Fast Company Senior Editor Julia Herbst about an article she  recently wrote looking at whether employees are still feeling as empowered and in control of their careers as they did a year ago.

Kate Davis talks with Jessica Grose, New York Times opinion writer, about her new book “Screaming on the inside: the Unsustainability of American Motherhood”

We are back with new episodes on February 20th!

This week we have a panel recorded at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York last fall. This discussion was one of my favorites from the Festival - Fast Company editor Morgan Clendaniel spoke to Sara Nelson, President of the Flight Attendants union; Christian Smalls, President, Amazon Labor Union; and Saket Soni, Founder, Resilience Force about the future of the labor movement, how covid changed workplaces and the dynamic between employees and management. The three  labor leaders explain the forces that led up to this new worker moment and share their insights on what’s permanently changed for businesses and the economy.

Today’s episode was recorded at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York last fall. Bhavik Shah, principal from Mind Share Partners presented a workshop about how to support mental health of employees. He joined me in the podcast booth on the festival floor to talk about how he thinks the workplace will change over the next few years, how leaders can address and support mental health for their employees beyond benefits, and more.

When it comes to New Years Resolutions, why do so many of us fail – and what’s the secret to those few that manage to follow through? For this LinkedIn Audio from Tuesday 1/10, Fast Company's Work Life editors comb through all the best advice around goal setting and share their tips.

Last year, Dr. David Rock of the Neuroleadship Institute came on The New Way We Work to talk about the factors that make work meaningful. He pointed to five forms of motivation, using the acronym "SCARF" which stands for status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. On today's episode Kate Davis and producer Josh Christensen take the SCARF assessment and discuss their results.

Kate Davis, KC Ifeanyi, and Amelia Hemphill discuss the biggest stories at Fast Company this past year and share their favorite moments from Fast Company podcasts. Kate highlights The New Way We Work's 4-part miniseries "Ambition Diaries," which examined the effects of the pandemic on women's progress in the workplace. KC reviews some of the biggest trends in the creator economy. Amelia explains some of the most innovative approaches to sustainability, including a toilet that incinerates your bowel movement under water. Finally, Kate, KC, and Amelia share their New Year's resolutions. Subscribe to The New Way We Work, Creative Control, and World Changing Ideas on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.